We have a basic human right to communicate. We have the right to say whatever we want to, whenever we want to, to whomever we want to. Even if we experience consequences for our message, we have the right to speak it anyway. How about our friends with significant communication impairment? What are their rights? What is our role in helping them access their right to communicate as effectively as their peers? Is it even possible? Let’s learn from people with significant communication impairment who have defied the expectations of everyone around them to achieve meaningful, successful and impactful lives. We will define specific targets for communication in our schools, and share a framework for supporting and encouraging communication across the entire student body.
About
Vicki Clarke is a speech-language pathologist who has specialized in augmentative and alternative communication for over 25 years. Vicki is the CEO of Dynamic Therapy Associates, Inc. and Director of DTA Schools, a division providing multi-district AAC services. Vicki supports school districts in AAC evaluation, equipment procurement, and implementation for individual students in the academic environment. In addition, DTA Schools supports district-wide AAC implementation through the Classroom Communication Goals Project, training and supporting all team members in classroom AAC implementation.
Materials/Handouts
Exhibit Hall
Ballroom
Description
This is a hands-on exhibit hall including national and local vendors in all areas of Assistive Technology. Open all four sessions.
Makerspace: 3D Printing
Bill Binko
Room 301
Description
This session is an explore session. The Makerspace is open for exploration during Sessions 1, 3 and 4. The focus of this session is 3D Printing.
STEM programs provide access to amazing technologies and with the self-teaching power of YouTube, today's young makers can do things unheard of in previous generations. However, most of them create solutions without problems: they apply their skills to toys and diversions rather than the real-world challenges they know nothing of. Meanwhile, ATPs have fewer resources than ever before. Customization needed for each client is beyond their own technical abilities, and most have no access to engineers to bridge the gap. In short, they have no makers and no tools. ATMakers.org introduces STEM programs to the AT community. This session will present the results of our collaborations, show hands-on demonstrations of our student-built designs and provide a live walk-through of our best-received ATP primers (Home Automation, DIY Switch Interfaces and more). ATMakers.org
About
A self-proclaimed geek with a background in computer and electrical engineering, Bill married into Special Education and went on to found LessonPix.com. He has now created ATMakers.org, a new non-profit effort to introduce STEM and Robotics programs to Assistive Technology.
Materials/Handouts
Make-n-Take: Adapted Frayer-Based Model for Cross-Curricular Access (Ticket Required)
Jessie Moreau
Room 319
Description
Having an interactive graphic organizer can be most useful in providing access to the curriculum for students with cognitive impairments. Make an enlarged adapted Frayer-based model that can be used for science, social studies, language arts and more! A CD-Rom with adapted Frayer-based model curricular activities will be provided.
About
Instructional Coach for Adapted Curriculum & the GAA; former A.T. Specialist for Gwinnett County Schools; Classroom Teacher for students with significant impairments for 16 years. Holds Master's Degree certification in Adapted Curriculum, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Blind/Visual Impairments; National Board Teacher for Severe/Multiple Disabilities; GDOE Resource Board author.
Materials/Handouts
Use of Multisensory Stories for Students with Multiple Disabilities
Maleah Stewart, Shelly Malone, and Alan Arena
Room 320
Description
This session will focus on fostering student engagement and interaction through use of multisensory stories while also meeting the individualized, complex needs of students with moderate, severe, and profound intellectual disabilities. For students with complex communication needs who are often unable to interact with activities as typical peers do, multisensory storytelling brings stories to life, and each student has the opportunity to become an active participant. Topics of discussion will include development of stories, ideas for sensory materials, incorporating individualized IEP objectives, and gathering data. Videos of co-taught lessons with teachers and SLP will highlight specific strategies utilized to maximize student engagement.
About
Maleah Stewart and Shelly Malone work at North Forsyth Middle School. Maleah, a speech-language pathologist for 18 years, was selected as Forsyth County’s 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year. Shelly, recently selected as Forsyth’s Teacher of the Month, has been working with students in the severe/profound intellectual disabilities classroom for 6 years.
Creating digital math and science used to be a difficult process. It can be complicated to type and frustrating for students and teachers alike. We will focus on simplifying this process using EquatIO, enhancing ways students can respond to math and science problems digitally and collaboratively within Google's GSuite or Office 365. Math and science topics require computational thinking, but at heart the goal is to communicate their thought process and 'show their work'. Creating and communicating math and science digitally is an accessibility issue that we need to address now to prepare students for an increasingly digital world. This session will show teachers how to use EquatIO to create digital representations of their current work and inspire them to move forward into creating inspiring and innovative digital lessons backed with UDL principles allowing them to create and consume math in their preferred method.
About
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Business School, Jeff has been working in technology for over 20 years. For the past 9 he has been responsible for Texthelp's efforts in the mid-atlantic and southeastern U.S. Jeff's most significant accomplishments are his marriage of over 30 years and "management/survival" of seven (7!) children.
Materials/Handouts
AT for People with Sensory Disabilities Danny Housley
upside down triangle.PNG
Room 343 Description This session will cover the concept of Snoezelen rooms, sensory disability assessments and assistive technology for people with sensory disabilities.
About
Danny has worked as the AT Funding Specialist for 2 years, worked in disability rights for ten years and assistive technology for five. He currently manages the Credit-Able program.
Materials/Handouts
AAC Training: Collaboration Between University Program and a Local School System
Laura Nichols, Wendy (Sedlock) Harrison
Room 359
Description
Please come and hear about our exciting and innovative collaboration designed to provide additional services to preschool children who use AAC AND training opportunities for graduate SLP clinicians.
Marvin et al (2003); reported that more than half of the SLPs who responded to a survey believed that they had limited or poor training in AAC. More than 80% reported insufficient education in their graduate programs in speech and language pathology.
The University of Georgia has taken action to ascertain that our graduates are trained in the expanding field of AAC. A two-credit graduate course is now part of the required curriculum. Practice in evaluation and treatment of clients using AAC is provided in our university speech and hearing clinic. Additionally, UGA has partnership with the Oconee County School System that allows graduate student clinicians to go to the schools in this neighboring district to provide AAC therapy to students above and beyond what is in the students’ IEPs. The SLP student clinicians gain experience in providing services under the mentoring of their university clinical supervisor. The response from parents, teachers, school administrators, and university faculty has been positive and enthusiastic.
If you are working in a district near a university with a communication sciences and disorders program; or if you are a clinical supervisor/faculty member of a university program, we invite you to come and hear about our experiences!
About
Laura Nichols is a speech/language pathologist with 30 years of experience providing speech pathology services in a variety of educational and healthcare settings. Laura worked for Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (GPAT) and served as a Special Education Coordinator for the Troup County School District. Laura has taught "Assistive Technology" courses at Columbus State University for over 17 years and she currently is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Wendy (Sedlock) Harrison, CCC-SLP, EdS, graduated from UGA with her MEd in 1993. She has worked in Cobb County, Wilkes County, and for the past 10 years in Oconee County, Ga. serving students ages 3-21.
Materials/Handouts
Exploring Boardmaker Online
Courtney Moss
Crescent 2206
Description
Did you know that Boardmaker Online allows you to create more than print-based activities? In this session, we will explore the most popular components of Boardmaker Online. Presenters will demonstrate how to use the software to engage and assess all students in any content using fully accessible and easy to learn features. Participants will leave with the ability to sign up for a trial account and start creating their own materials! By the end of this session participants will be able to: Describe 3 traditional uses of symbol supported materials List one template that could be used to engage learners in the following areas: communication, self-help, grade level activities, IEP goals Discuss how to use Boardmaker Online to monitor student progress
About
I am a certified Speech Language Pathologist who previously worked in Fulton County Schools with the special needs pre-k population. I have worked with Tobii Dynavox for 6 years now specializing in AAC and software for special education.
Materials/Handouts
AT Team Version 2.2 Decades
Helen Upshaw
Piedmont 1106
Description
Come see how Georgia's 2nd largest school system has redesigned AT service delivery. Over the past 20 years, school-based assistive technology teams have moved away from the "expert" model; in an effort, to build capacity. Students with high incidence disabilities can benefit from a UDL approach. When we use a UDL approach, the staff implements the strategies not the experts. We need to use available tools and resources to collaboratively build capacity for ALL students. We will share resources available to ALL students in our district from our toolkit; such as, Office 365, Skype, digital library, and Google Drive, to our student’s toolbox.
About
Graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Master of Communication in December, 1982. Received E.D.’s in Education Leadership from Berry College in December 2012. Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist for 35 years. Member of the Cobb County Assistive Technology team for 23 years. 10 of the 23 years has been spent serving as the Coordinator of the AT Team.
Materials/Handouts
Communication and Visual Supports - Delving Deeper: Why and How
Jennifer Ro, Jessie Schares, Amy Thomsen
Peachtree Room
Description
Visual and communication supports proactively embedded and utilized throughout the day are known to increase levels of student engagement, facilitate learning, and minimize behaviors.
This is not rocket science!!! We all know that visuals and communication supports help our students in the classroom.
Though we will highlight visuals you already use (and perhaps some new ones), we will target a deeper understanding of “why” they facilitate engagement and learning and “how” to use them with students at different stages of development.
With this knowledge, teachers show greater capacity to plan lessons to accommodate all learners and to modify instruction when challenges present themselves. In the process, students learn how to use these supports to build a long-term foundation of skills that facilitates overall independence.
Topics will include overviews of typical social and communication development, core vocabulary and language, UDL, and communication and visual supports suitable for every student. Videos will also be highlighted.
About
Jennifer has focused much of her 20+ year career in the field of AAC. Current interests include AAC implementation in the classroom and staff development. Jennifer received her Master's degree in speech-language pathology from Northwestern University. She is currently employed with Forsyth County Schools as the lead AAC-SLP on the district’s Assistive Technology team.
12:30 - 1:30
GATE Talk: Free Speech, For Everyone?
Vicki Clarke
Description
We have a basic human right to communicate. We have the right to say whatever we want to, whenever we want to, to whomever we want to. Even if we experience consequences for our message, we have the right to speak it anyway. How about our friends with significant communication impairment? What are their rights? What is our role in helping them access their right to communicate as effectively as their peers? Is it even possible? Let’s learn from people with significant communication impairment who have defied the expectations of everyone around them to achieve meaningful, successful and impactful lives. We will define specific targets for communication in our schools, and share a framework for supporting and encouraging communication across the entire student body.About
Vicki Clarke is a speech-language pathologist who has specialized in augmentative and alternative communication for over 25 years. Vicki is the CEO of Dynamic Therapy Associates, Inc. and Director of DTA Schools, a division providing multi-district AAC services. Vicki supports school districts in AAC evaluation, equipment procurement, and implementation for individual students in the academic environment. In addition, DTA Schools supports district-wide AAC implementation through the Classroom Communication Goals Project, training and supporting all team members in classroom AAC implementation.Materials/Handouts
Exhibit Hall
Description
This is a hands-on exhibit hall including national and local vendors in all areas of Assistive Technology. Open all four sessions.Makerspace: 3D Printing
Bill Binko
Description
This session is an explore session. The Makerspace is open for exploration during Sessions 1, 3 and 4. The focus of this session is 3D Printing.STEM programs provide access to amazing technologies and with the self-teaching power of YouTube, today's young makers can do things unheard of in previous generations. However, most of them create solutions without problems: they apply their skills to toys and diversions rather than the real-world challenges they know nothing of. Meanwhile, ATPs have fewer resources than ever before. Customization needed for each client is beyond their own technical abilities, and most have no access to engineers to bridge the gap. In short, they have no makers and no tools. ATMakers.org introduces STEM programs to the AT community. This session will present the results of our collaborations, show hands-on demonstrations of our student-built designs and provide a live walk-through of our best-received ATP primers (Home Automation, DIY Switch Interfaces and more).
ATMakers.org
About
A self-proclaimed geek with a background in computer and electrical engineering, Bill married into Special Education and went on to found LessonPix.com. He has now created ATMakers.org, a new non-profit effort to introduce STEM and Robotics programs to Assistive Technology.Materials/Handouts
Make-n-Take: Adapted Frayer-Based Model for Cross-Curricular Access (Ticket Required)
Jessie Moreau
Description
Having an interactive graphic organizer can be most useful in providing access to the curriculum for students with cognitive impairments. Make an enlarged adapted Frayer-based model that can be used for science, social studies, language arts and more! A CD-Rom with adapted Frayer-based model curricular activities will be provided.About
Instructional Coach for Adapted Curriculum & the GAA; former A.T. Specialist for Gwinnett County Schools; Classroom Teacher for students with significant impairments for 16 years. Holds Master's Degree certification in Adapted Curriculum, Deaf/Hard of Hearing, Blind/Visual Impairments; National Board Teacher for Severe/Multiple Disabilities; GDOE Resource Board author.Materials/Handouts
Use of Multisensory Stories for Students with Multiple Disabilities
Maleah Stewart, Shelly Malone, and Alan Arena
Description
This session will focus on fostering student engagement and interaction through use of multisensory stories while also meeting the individualized, complex needs of students with moderate, severe, and profound intellectual disabilities. For students with complex communication needs who are often unable to interact with activities as typical peers do, multisensory storytelling brings stories to life, and each student has the opportunity to become an active participant. Topics of discussion will include development of stories, ideas for sensory materials, incorporating individualized IEP objectives, and gathering data. Videos of co-taught lessons with teachers and SLP will highlight specific strategies utilized to maximize student engagement.About
Maleah Stewart and Shelly Malone work at North Forsyth Middle School. Maleah, a speech-language pathologist for 18 years, was selected as Forsyth County’s 2016-2017 Teacher of the Year. Shelly, recently selected as Forsyth’s Teacher of the Month, has been working with students in the severe/profound intellectual disabilities classroom for 6 years.
Materials/Handouts
STEM UDL - Making Math and Science Digital
Jeff Levinson
Description
Creating digital math and science used to be a difficult process. It can be complicated to type and frustrating for students and teachers alike. We will focus on simplifying this process using EquatIO, enhancing ways students can respond to math and science problems digitally and collaboratively within Google's GSuite or Office 365.Math and science topics require computational thinking, but at heart the goal is to communicate their thought process and 'show their work'. Creating and communicating math and science digitally is an accessibility issue that we need to address now to prepare students for an increasingly digital world.
This session will show teachers how to use EquatIO to create digital representations of their current work and inspire them to move forward into creating inspiring and innovative digital lessons backed with UDL principles allowing them to create and consume math in their preferred method.
About
A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Business School, Jeff has been working in technology for over 20 years. For the past 9 he has been responsible for Texthelp's efforts in the mid-atlantic and southeastern U.S. Jeff's most significant accomplishments are his marriage of over 30 years and "management/survival" of seven (7!) children.
Materials/Handouts
AT for People with Sensory Disabilities
Danny Housley
Description
This session will cover the concept of Snoezelen rooms, sensory disability assessments and assistive technology for people with sensory disabilities.
About
Danny has worked as the AT Funding Specialist for 2 years, worked in disability rights for ten years and assistive technology for five. He currently manages the Credit-Able program.Materials/Handouts
AAC Training: Collaboration Between University Program and a Local School System
Laura Nichols, Wendy (Sedlock) Harrison
Description
Please come and hear about our exciting and innovative collaboration designed to provide additional services to preschool children who use AAC AND training opportunities for graduate SLP clinicians.Marvin et al (2003); reported that more than half of the SLPs who responded to a survey believed that they had limited or poor training in AAC. More than 80% reported insufficient education in their graduate programs in speech and language pathology.
The University of Georgia has taken action to ascertain that our graduates are trained in the expanding field of AAC. A two-credit graduate course is now part of the required curriculum. Practice in evaluation and treatment of clients using AAC is provided in our university speech and hearing clinic. Additionally, UGA has partnership with the Oconee County School System that allows graduate student clinicians to go to the schools in this neighboring district to provide AAC therapy to students above and beyond what is in the students’ IEPs. The SLP student clinicians gain experience in providing services under the mentoring of their university clinical supervisor. The response from parents, teachers, school administrators, and university faculty has been positive and enthusiastic.
If you are working in a district near a university with a communication sciences and disorders program; or if you are a clinical supervisor/faculty member of a university program, we invite you to come and hear about our experiences!
About
Laura Nichols is a speech/language pathologist with 30 years of experience providing speech pathology services in a variety of educational and healthcare settings. Laura worked for Georgia Project for Assistive Technology (GPAT) and served as a Special Education Coordinator for the Troup County School District. Laura has taught "Assistive Technology" courses at Columbus State University for over 17 years and she currently is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Georgia in Athens.Wendy (Sedlock) Harrison, CCC-SLP, EdS, graduated from UGA with her MEd in 1993. She has worked in Cobb County, Wilkes County, and for the past 10 years in Oconee County, Ga. serving students ages 3-21.
Materials/Handouts
Exploring Boardmaker Online
Courtney Moss
Description
Did you know that Boardmaker Online allows you to create more than print-based activities? In this session, we will explore the most popular components of Boardmaker Online. Presenters will demonstrate how to use the software to engage and assess all students in any content using fully accessible and easy to learn features. Participants will leave with the ability to sign up for a trial account and start creating their own materials!By the end of this session participants will be able to:
Describe 3 traditional uses of symbol supported materials
List one template that could be used to engage learners in the following areas: communication, self-help, grade level activities, IEP goals
Discuss how to use Boardmaker Online to monitor student progress
About
I am a certified Speech Language Pathologist who previously worked in Fulton County Schools with the special needs pre-k population. I have worked with Tobii Dynavox for 6 years now specializing in AAC and software for special education.
Materials/Handouts
AT Team Version 2.2 Decades
Helen Upshaw
Description
Come see how Georgia's 2nd largest school system has redesigned AT service delivery. Over the past 20 years, school-based assistive technology teams have moved away from the "expert" model; in an effort, to build capacity. Students with high incidence disabilities can benefit from a UDL approach. When we use a UDL approach, the staff implements the strategies not the experts. We need to use available tools and resources to collaboratively build capacity for ALL students. We will share resources available to ALL students in our district from our toolkit; such as, Office 365, Skype, digital library, and Google Drive, to our student’s toolbox.About
Graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Master of Communication in December, 1982. Received E.D.’s in Education Leadership from Berry College in December 2012. Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist for 35 years. Member of the Cobb County Assistive Technology team for 23 years. 10 of the 23 years has been spent serving as the Coordinator of the AT Team.
Materials/Handouts
Communication and Visual Supports - Delving Deeper: Why and How
Jennifer Ro, Jessie Schares, Amy Thomsen
Description
Visual and communication supports proactively embedded and utilized throughout the day are known to increase levels of student engagement, facilitate learning, and minimize behaviors.
This is not rocket science!!! We all know that visuals and communication supports help our students in the classroom.
Though we will highlight visuals you already use (and perhaps some new ones), we will target a deeper understanding of “why” they facilitate engagement and learning and “how” to use them with students at different stages of development.
With this knowledge, teachers show greater capacity to plan lessons to accommodate all learners and to modify instruction when challenges present themselves. In the process, students learn how to use these supports to build a long-term foundation of skills that facilitates overall independence.
Topics will include overviews of typical social and communication development, core vocabulary and language, UDL, and communication and visual supports suitable for every student. Videos will also be highlighted.
About
Jennifer has focused much of her 20+ year career in the field of AAC. Current interests include AAC implementation in the classroom and staff development. Jennifer received her Master's degree in speech-language pathology from Northwestern University. She is currently employed with Forsyth County Schools as the lead AAC-SLP on the district’s Assistive Technology team.Materials/Handouts